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Glassdance
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Photo by Will Gullette |
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1.
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Blue Nights, by Cris Forster |
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Brian B. James, Bass Canon |
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Heidi Forster, Glassdance |
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Deborah Knapp, Just Keys |
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Brandis Moylan, Bass Marimba |
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2.
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Lullaby, by Cris Forster |
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Heidi Forster, Glassdance |
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Heidi Forster
playing Glassdance |
Photo by Will Gullette |
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Built: |
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1982–1983, San Diego, California. |
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Dimensions: |
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Total number of glasses: 48. |
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Length of stand:
55 ˝ in. |
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Height of stand:
42 ˝ in. |
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Width of stand at wheels: 42.0 in. |
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Overall height of instrument: 76 ˝ in. |
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Materials: |
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Lead crystal glass, Douglas fir, birch, teak, |
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mahogany, aluminum, brass, and steel. |
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Range: |
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Lowest glass:
G above middle C. |
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Highest glass:
Third G above middle C. |
The Glassdance, which consists of 48 revolving tuned crystal glasses, belongs to a
relatively rare family of friction instruments.
It was inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s ‘glass armonica’ and is by far the most complex
instrument I have built to date. In the detailed graphic, note that the stems of the glasses are mounted through the centers of
red sprockets. A variable speed motor
coupled to a modular drive transmission rotates the glasses. Consequently, a performer may play two or
more glasses simultaneously. This
instrument has a remarkable sensitivity to touch, and a rich variety of tones and
timbres. (See also: Creative Aspects >
Glassdance Discussion.)
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Dear Reader,
Since July 2002, more than 250,000 visitors have logged on to
www.chrysalis-foundation.org. Your interest has encouraged us to plan a
self-publication of Cris Forster's manuscript Musical Mathematics: A
Practice in the Mathematics of Tuning Instruments and Analyzing Scales.
To accomplish this task, we will be applying to organizations and individuals
for grants. Our goal is to publish a complete and unabridged first edition of 500 copies, with a retail
cost of $90.00 per book. If you would like more information on
Mr. Forster's 1300-page manuscript, please visit
our
Musical
Mathematics page,
which shows the Table of Contents of this work.
If you would like to see Musical Mathematics in print,
please write to us so that we may include your emails and letters in our grant
applications. Kindly let us know whether you are a musician,
student, teacher, professor, instrument builder, etc., and indicate any
institutional affiliations you may have. Your name and email address
will only appear in confidential grant applications. We will honor
anyone's wish to remain anonymous.
Please send your email to:
info@chrysalis-foundation.org
or send your letter to:
The Chrysalis Foundation
1459 18th Street, PMB #137
San Francisco, CA 94107
Thank you for your interest and support of the Chrysalis
Foundation book publication project.
The Board of Directors
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